Innovation Brewing of Sylva, N.C. makes only about 500 barrels of beer a year, mostly sold in Jackson County. But size doesn't matter in a tough trademark dispute with the much bigger Bell's Brewery of Kalamazoo, which made more than 310,000 barrels last year.

Bell's has filed a federal action against Innovation over the use of its name. Bell's says its unregistered advertising slogan "bottling innovation since 1985" could lead to confusion with customers. While the slogan is used on bumper stickers, it's not present on any of the brewery's beer packaging.

Bell's also uses a slogan "inspired brewing" that's been part of the legal complaint that the company believes would be confused with Innovation Brewing's name.

"We are very disappointed," said Nicole Dexter, who founded Innovation in 2013 with her partner Chip Owen. The two came up with the Innovation name after finding creative means of assembling their brewing system.

"Innovation is what we had to do to make everything work," Owen said. "We had limited funds" and Owen assembled the system himself.

They say that Bell's "bottling innovation since 1985" slogan is not protected by a registered trademark and has not been used in conjunction with the sale of beer.

The matter slowly is unfolding in the U.S. Trademark Trials and Appeals Board in Virginia. The Innovation name was filed in 2013, but a ruling won't come before October of this year, and maybe later, Innovation trademark attorney Ian Gates said. "It's a long process."

Bell's founder Larry Bell would not discuss the issue. "This is a federal case and we will let it play out in federal court," he said. "We are not going to play it out in social media or a newspaper." Bell's distributes its beers in 18 states, according to its website, including North and South Carolina.

The Asheville Brewers Alliance, a trade organization representing 45 area breweries and beer-related businesses, has lined up in support of Innovation, a statement said.

"There are many instances where craft breweries have encountered trademark issues and have chosen to work together to resolve their differences," it said. "As an Asheville Brewers Alliance member, we support Innovation Brewing and are hopeful that, in the spirit of collaboration, Bell's Brewery and Innovation Brewing will arrive at an agreement amenable to both parties."

Trademark and naming issues are becoming increasingly common among breweries, wineries and distilleries. In 2011, Bell's filed a challenge against a beer called Copper Bell, but the matter was settled and the brand was withdrawn.

New Belgium is in a federal dispute with Oasis Texas Brewing over the rights to the Slow Ride Session IPA brand name.

In 2013, Headwaters Brewing of Waynesville changed its name to BearWaters after a cease and desist letter from Victory Brewing, which makes Headwaters Pale Ale.

"There are 3,000 craft breweries, 9,000 wineries, 1,000 distilleries and many out-of-country alcohol producers and we are all sharing one basket of names," said Innovation attorney Douglas Reiser. Defending names and trademarks is costly, with legal fees reaching into the realm of $40,000-$50,000.

But almost always, breweries can reach agreements on those issues, resulting in coexistence that benefits both brands. "To my knowledge, this is the first craft brewery v. craft brewery brand dispute that would go to trial," Reiser said.

Tony Kiss is a reporter for the Citizen-Times. Contact him at tkiss@gannett.com.